The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-02-02

French were refined and educated people
for that aye. In fact. they were the most civ.
iliZed nation in Europe at that time. They
had retained all That was good Of their Nor
man ancestors, and had imbibPd all the bet
ter qualities of the French. as Green says, In
substance. "The latest cOnquererS were also
the best" says Creasey, ir comparing the sew
eral Races that conquered the island, "and In
spite OF our sympaihies with Harold and our
adherence for the founder Of the New Forest
and the desolaIor of Yorkshire. We must con-
fess the superiority of the Nornans to the
Anglo-SaxOns whom they met here in 1885,
So we see, since the superior is always capa-
bic of eSerting wider influence than the
inferior, the Norman was capable of excrting
n wider Influence on the future of the nation,
which they were about to form, than the say
ons. These are the two races which the bat
tie Of Hastings brought into such close con-
tact on the 14th of October. 1865; and 1t Is
stated on good authority that here almost
the whole Saxon nobility were killed, which.
of course, esSened their influence In the fu-
turo. 4 direct result of this conquest was
the uniting of England into one consolidated
kingdom. She, under the reign Of her first
Saxon Kings, was divided into seven petty
Kingdoms allied the hcptarchy. and although
two of them were more powerful than the
others, and eXacIed trlbntc from them, yet
they had never brought England under one
king, nor made the pcope one. Green says
Of this earlier:agc, prior to the conquest ev-
cry attempt to fuse the various tribes into
sin gle nation had failed. But the Norman
duke, by one single blow, brought oil Eng
land under his iron Sceptre, where lie by
stern and Impartial rule moulded the coun.
try into one nation and Into one people,
Again, q direct result OF this conquest, and or
Norman origin, was the feudal system. which
in aftertime played such an important part
in English affairs. That this system was or
Norman origin we deem unnecessary To
prove, as 1t Is an universally conceded fact,
and we take 1t for granted that the attrma-
fi,sa a,t-in Ia,,t Tn 1nSc trnntV
years from the battle of Hastings all the Eng
lish lands we're divided out by the Conqnerer
10 his barons as reward for their services,
and the old Inhabitants were reduced TO- the
what influence on the civilization OF the
country could people have in such circum-
stances.
Here IL may he argned by the affirmative
cicty, and being the more numerous class
moulded the future character of the nation.
But we say that one Norman under these cir
curnstnnces exertcd wider Influence than
hundred of his subjects AS q parallel case,
witness the results produced by the ancient
Greeks, who, though few In number, spread
their civilization and language over Asia Nil
nor and Southern Europe simply by their su.
perority. and 10y being masters of these coun-
tries rs the Nornans wert OF England. Here,
for three centuries. they ruled the Kingdom ms
they plensed, filled all the offices OF both
church and state, In which time the whole
country and nation assumed Norman rs.
pect, and thenceforth she was nation. form
cd by Norman influence. SO completely did
this race implant their civilization into the
English nation that Greene SAYS: "As we WIS.,
Il Normandy nowadays, 1t Is English history
that surrounds us, and every hamlet has
memories for English ears"
The fcudal system also eXerted wide In
fiuence on the nation rs millrry power since
In this way she was able To keep herself arm
ed to the very teeth which then she was able
to do In no other way. The nation thus arm
ed withstood the attacks OF all the continent
al nations.
1t is without parallel in the history Of the
world that small island near the mainland
should maintain powerful independent ma
tion. To what then more naturally than the
feudal system, which was such an efcctual
means Of defense, can we attribute this dGria-
tion nom the natural order of things. Close
ly related tO the fcudal system and the 1ornl.
in which 1t developed itself most beneftcient-
ly. was the spirit Of chivalry as it then exist.
cd In England. This spirit first showed Itself
in this country among the feudal harons, rs
was said, they having been Inspired with the
spirit before they came TO England. II Is
claimed by good writer's that the knight-hood
Of the middle ages did more towards raising
England with the rest of Europe from the
depths OF SuperStitl, n and ignorance than
any other institution Of the day. Marcus Will
son says. In regard 10 this Institution. I'm nm
age of darkness and superstition chivalry de-
her virtues 10 be appreciated and honorcd
made her the equal companion OF man."
"The love Of God and the ladies'" says Hallam,
"was enjoined as Il single duty" The latter
part OF which think would scarcely br
woman thus elevated would he OH the future
nation, we think unnecessary to point out to
our honorable judges.
of politics the Normans by their conquest
brought England directly Into contact with
the continental powers. Normandy being SUB.
Iect to the same king with England and i'm
mediately on the French border brought
these two nations together In this district and
in fact was the very cause of that amending
ennity between them.
It's this continual hostility that has made
England the military power she Is today.
Since the conquest there has been constant
strife as to who should rule Normandy. To
this we attribute the origin OF all the Fran CO.
English wars and of course whatever effects
these wars may have had in moulding the
character Of the nation. And who can esti-
mate the result upon people, OF generation
after generation OF war with another power?
Whether the Influence be good or bad does
not concern us a. present. Also from the
very days Of the conquest cmigrant5 from
France and especially from Normandy pour.
cd into England, since there was at'ractions
kings. On the other hand Saxon emigran's
by the thousands were pushing to the South
eastern part of Europe there to escape the
encrOachmcntS CT the Normans who were at
that time saving other parts of the continent.
This assertion is backed by the authority or
Hallam, who Is considered by critics one OF
most impartial Of English historians. Hence
we see that, while the Normans were fewer
Immediately after the conquest, In the long
run the two races were more equally balanced.
Bearing still on the question in hand and
especially on the politics we here mention
fact not generally known; put none the less ,,
William the Conqueror. The slave trade In
the most cruel and degrading form was car
ried on in England prior 10 this time. Our
t,o ~, Frao frN,S N
10 krow what a great blessing the Norman
bestowed on England when he abolished
slavery. And as authority we here quote Il
sentence from Green. He says In speaking OF
to Williams humanity, put an, end to ihe
slave trade which had till then been carried
on nj the port of Bristol
BY comparing the influence on our own
Southern states Of the abolition of slavery we
can appreciate the influence of the Nornans
on England in this particular. IN dealing
with this question all see the difficulty In
pointing oilt ditiniiely the influence OF the
Normans from that of the Saxons, but here Is
q fact That all can see and must Of necessity
go far towards showing the Norman Influence
This Is what the respective races did towards
developing England into nation among
their respective rules. We find that the SaH-
ons ruled the country centuries prior TO the
conquest. In all this time they did very little
I'm developing any OF the mighty character.
SnXons were little more civilized In l0GH than
they were centuries before when they came
to the island.
They had no written code Of laws and rob
berry and crime of every kind were prevalent
in the country. From the frequent reference
to the laws OF Edward the Confrssur In his
tory this may seem false, but as proof Of this
Hallam says. The laws afterwards called Ed,
wards wore forged. 1t hos been deemed
more rational that these longings for Ed
wards laws were rather meant for Il mild nd.
ministration of government free from Nor
In ri m Hntinltn
tenn" Thus we sec the Anglo-SaXnnS had
done very little towards forming England ill.,